Venison Steaks

By Darr Colburn

I got home from a successful coues deer hunt a couple of weeks ago and thought I would share a few game meat tips.  First I took most of the meat to 4 Peaks Processing in Phoenix to get ground into hamburger and meat sticks.  I kept the back straps at home and prepared them for the freezer and grill.  The Wild Game Cookbook by Dennis Rohde has some great recipies and tips for wild game.  I used cider vinegar and cheese cloth to clean the meat.  This helps take away some of the "game" taste and leaves the meat looking and smelling great.  After cleaning and cutting the back straps into steaks I kept one steak out to cook and vacuum sealed the others for freezing.  I used the Cabelas Bulk Vacuum Bags to package the meat for the freezer.  These bags are great because you can cut them into any size you need and they keep the meat from getting freezer burn.  The steak I was going to cook I seasoned with Lawry's meat tenderizer and marinated it in worchestshire sauce overnight.  The following evenning prior to grilling I took the steak out of the marinade and wrapped it with thick sliced bacon prior to placing on the grill.  The bacon adds great flavor and helps keep the steak from getting over cooked.  The last couple minutes of grilling I usually take the bacon off and brown both sides of the steak.  The key to cooking most wild game is to not over cook because wild game has very little fat and can dry out quickly.  After grilling slice the steak into thin strips and serve.  Enjoy!